Friday, December 12, 2014

Have you written a book? If you’re like most people, you
will probably testify that it was a long and grueling process. But eventually
you reach the end, and rejoice. And then you seek to show off your work to
publishers, and quickly realize that the writing was the easy part.

“AGENTED SUBMISSIONS ONLY”

Back in the 1990s, American publishers fired hundreds of
editors and readers. They figured out that they could get those same services for
free through literary agents, because
agents only send them material that’s already pre-screened and edited. Agented
authors don’t need as much coaching and hand-holding, and the reps themselves don’t
get a salary or a desk or a pension.

Friday, November 28, 2014

Three times this month, I’ve called my clients to give them big
news: Their book was accepted by a publisher. Their reaction? Bill let out a
big sigh of relief. Jessie squealed. Brenda was essentially speechless in
disbelief. In every case, they thanked me for my hard work and persistence.
This is the part I love.

About a dozen times now, my clients and I have parted
company; about half were at my initiative, half at theirs. In every case I was
disappointed, either at my own failure or at their unreasonable expectations.
That’s the part I hate. But life goes on, and future glories await. Such as my
three deals for November.

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Quick question: How many industries can you think of, that could put out a better product if they only removed all experienced professionals from their design and manufacturing process?

Much has been said in recent years, about the changing
nature of the publishing business. Today, aspiring authors have so many
options: No more gatekeepers, no more agents, no more editors, no
one to tell you what you can and can’t do. No one to tell you that you’re not
good enough. Only a naïve amateur, stuck in the past, would ever choose a
traditional publishing model. Power to the people, baby!

Perhaps what we need here, is a bit of perspective. This is
what “publishing” used to mean:

Thursday, June 19, 2014

According to one source, about 80 percent of all Americans
say they want to write a book. Among that number, most will never write the
first word. From among those who do, most either never finish, or don’t know
where to turn when they do.

It’s only a tiny subset of those aspiring authors, who will
ever get around to pitching their work to an agent or publisher. Are you one of
those brave souls? If so, you’ll need to know what to say and – very
importantly – what NOT to say. Whether you’re sending a query by email, or
conversing over coffee at a writers’ conference, here are a few things that
probably won’t help your case:

Thursday, June 12, 2014

The book business is changing. If you have a pulse and
possess the skill to read this sentence, you’re probably not surprised to hear
that. But the one part that amuses me more than anything, is the vocabulary.
Words that meant one thing for a century or more, now mean something very
different. Or at least, in the mind of some.

This new nomenclature seems to be driven by self-proclaimed
experts who truly believe they have figured out the new order of the publishing
world. They have no use for an agent or a proofreader, no interest in real education, and they
see a demon behind the door of every traditional publisher who won’t give away
the store. But what true credentials do they have, such that anyone should look
to them for such important advice? Hard to say.

Monday, May 26, 2014

No, not that kind of agent

If you had five minutes to sit down with an experienced
literary agent and ask anything, what would you ask? I recently posed this question to my writer
friends on Facebook, and the questions came in quickly. Here’s the first batch:

What is your biggest draw when it comes to signing someone?

I think every aspiring author asks this question sooner or
later, in one way or another, and they’re hoping to divine the ONE secret thing
that will make them rich and famous. And I always disappoint, because I don’t
believe that such a singular “secret of the ages” really exists. But when
pressed, I generally narrow it down to four things:

Friday, May 2, 2014

From my friend Kathy Ide, the Editor of Editors. She has instructed and inspired thousands of aspiring writers over the course of her long career. The following is an excerpt from her recently released Proofreading Secrets of
Best-Selling Authors.

Have you
seen the plaques and T-shirts that say this?:

Let’s
Eat Grandma.

Let’s Eat, Grandma.Commas Save Lives.

I love
that! It shows how one tiny bit of punctuation can change the entire meaning
and tone of a sentence.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Alas, I fear that I’m being out-maneuvered by a certain famous
literary agent with a blog. He seems to be CHIPping away at my market share.
Apparently I should be posting here more often, so…here goes nothing.

As a writer, I know well the struggles of submitting work to
agents and editors. Every agency and publisher has a prescribed process for
submissions, and sometimes you’ll get ambitious and send off a dozen queries at
a time. How do you follow all of the guidelines, without driving yourself
crazy?

Early on, I decided that I would make it ridiculously simple
to submit a query. I created a form that asks you to fill in the blanks for ten
questions: Name, title, genre, synopsis, target audience, moral or spiritual
lesson (if any), word count, manuscript status (is it complete?) brief bio, and
source (where did you find me?) Keep it to one page, single-spaced. Make it
easy for me, and perhaps you’ll be rewarded with an offer of representation.
How hard can it be?
.

Friday, March 28, 2014

I can remember, as a high school student in the 1970s,
observing the advent of personal computers. The Apple, the IBM, the Commodore
64, the Radio Shack TRS-80. The Internet, in its earliest stages, remained the
province of government officials and university professors.

Oh, how I longed to possess one of these space-age miracle
machines. I begged my parents to help me buy one. (I already had a part-time
job, and could contribute to the cause.) But what did I want it for? I didn’t
know, exactly. In fact, I didn’t have a clue. I only knew that I wanted to join
that exclusive club of the sophisticated and privileged.

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Just this morning, I came across an interesting post from
one of my friends on Facebook. My friend, who (like me) happens to be black, posted links to
articles from yesterday’s New York Times: here and here.

Long story short: There aren’t enough books out there for
black kids. Most children’s books feature white kids from the suburbs, not
colored kids from the ’hood. Who will be their heroes? Who will be their role
models? Surely Encyclopedia Brown or Charlie Bucket (my favorites, in my wonder
years) will never do.

Who is to blame for this institutionalized racism? And what
might be a way forward? Curiously these articles are fuzzy on both counts, but
one described the situation as “apartheid.” Which (at least for me) implies forced
segregation at the hand of the white man.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Much has been written in recent years, about the evolving role of
literary agents. Some would say that the brave new world of self-publishing has
made them obsolete. Others insist that they’re just a den of dinosaurs,
struggling to stay relevant and steal fees from unsuspecting authors, in a world that has passed them by. No doubt the current environment brings new
challenges for the business, but I daresay that the reports of our demise are
quite premature.

First, as to the rise of self-pub: Surely we’ve all heard
the success stories of self-published books that went on to greatness; The Shack and Fifty Shades come immediately to mind. But why do you suppose it is
that these stories garner so much ink in the popular media? The answer, of
course, is that they’re so rare. For every gonzo hit that you hear about, there
are tens of thousands that barely left the gate.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Last week I wandered into an online discussion group, where I
was intrigued by the question,

“I just found out that I’m supposed to use one space after a
period instead of two. After typing one way for so many years, it seems silly
to change. Do you think it’s important to follow this rule?”

A little background:
The double-space convention was a product of the old days of manual typesetting
(I will spare you the boring details). And with old-style typewriters that made
all characters the same width, a double-space was deemed necessary to
distinguish the end of a sentence. But now that almost all of us compose on
computers that can make those adjustments automatically, the single-space is
sufficient. Confused? Me too.

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Good news! You sent off your book proposal to a literary
agent, and he liked it. Better news! A few days later, despite your doubts, the agency
contract arrives in your mailbox. You open the envelope, and lay out the
document on your dining room table. And there it is, staring at you, taunting
you, begging for your signature.

Now what? Should
you sign it? Most first-time authors won’t have a clue. Before you face that
momentous decision, here are some of the standard provisions you’ll find in
most agency contracts. Let's strip away the legalese, and get down to it:

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Every time I speak at a writers’ conference, and every time
I foolishly wander into an Internet chat room, I can expect to hear certain
questions from aspiring authors. Sooner or later, in one form or another, one
question always seems to come up:

As a writer, I certainly feel their pain; how can I ever
hope to improve, if no one will tell me what needs improving? But after three
years as agent, it’s easy to see the other side.

First, it’s not my job. I know that sounds unbelievably cold
and callous, but it’s true. I’m here to identify promising writers, offer their
works to prospective publishers, and then negotiate the deal. Every minute I
spend away from those functions, causes me to shirk my contractual obligations to
existing clients.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

So, what’s wrong with our world today? There are many
answers to this important question, of course, but let me posit a scenario:
Children grow up without godly values. Because their parents have a lousy
marriage. Because they started out with a directionless courtship. The
consequences are huge, and far-reaching.

In his new book Dating Like Airplanes, Caleb Breakey doesn’t preach. He shares his own struggles
in pursuit of (now-wife) Brittney; his mistakes, joys, and hard-learned
lessons. True love is about giving, not taking. Waiting, not rushing.
Self-examination, and seeking advice from those who have gone before.
.

About Me

AAR-member agent.
.________________________________
I was born in 1962 in an old Spanish colony on the coast of California. They called it "The Village of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels," in honor of Mary the mother of Jesus. Never heard of it? Oh, silly me. Like most people, you probably know it by its abbreviated name in Spanish: Los Angeles.
I grew up somewhere between the gleaming glass towers of Bunker Hill and the bright lights of Hollywood. I was a storyteller almost from birth; poems, articles, business letters, whatever. But like almost all writers, I kept a day job; in-between gigs I found gainful employment as a clerk typist, vitamin buyer, waiter, fundraiser, prep cook, gardener, lifeguard, bookkeeper, grocery checker, printer's apprentice, and meat cutter.
.
In time I had a couple of books published. One thing led to another, I edited books for others and managed a writers’ conference, making many valuable contacts along the way. As an agent I made my first sale in only five months; so I think I will stick with this for a while.Swimming, gardening, and cooking keep my hands busy in-between.